i love old-timey horror. their idea of what's scary is like, A Cupboard Shutting or A Lady With The Right To Vote

This was a beautifully written mystery novel, full of complications, contradictions, secrets, and drama. Although written in epistolary style using letters and written narratives by several characters, Walter is the main narrator who writes his own narratives and pulls together the narratives of others into a cohesive story.

The novel is mainly about identity but also provides some interesting commentary on gender, marriage, women's rights, and power struggles. That's a big deal for something written in the mid-1800s.

I loved it and had a lot of trouble putting it down at times. It is long, but well worth the effort to read cover to cover.

There was much to like about this novel. It's a wonderful 19th century English classic, it's a top-notch mystery, the writing is very good, and the characters were well developed and memorable. A small fault for me was the length. This story was told from the pov of several individuals, and I think a few of those were superfluous and redundant. Nevertheless, the flow was good enough to keep my interest and the pages turning. This is my first Wilkie Collins book and by most accounts his best. Which leaves me in a position of wanting to read more but not wanting to be disappointed. Collins was a prolific writer and many of them are available for free on Kindle. So I'll give The Moonstone a go next and go from there.

One afterthought, the character of Marian Halcombe is one of my favorite of all time in literature. I wanted to say to Walter Hartwright, hey, you should marry Marian, not Laura.

As a good friend of mine told me a few months ago, The Woman in White reads like an addictive soap opera, where a lot of things are happening, one after another, and whose story is so easy to read—now I can tell it is the more readable Victorian book I have picked up so far—therefore, very entertaining and exciting.
I couldn't agree more with her, not only because the novel is indeed so riveting that you can't put it down once you start reading it, but also because it is beautifully written, with very well developed characters and a coherent, quite impressive plot as well as ending. If you ask me, I wasn't able to find out 'the secret' that is typical in sensation novels until the end of the book, when the author finally reveals it to the reader.

The Woman in White has everything that you need to enjoy a good sensation novel, perhaps with a cup of tea during the afternoon, while you read it. Now, I would agree that the book might be kind of 'daunting' because of its number of pages (700 or so), but it is by no means anything of that kind. Written as a series of diary entries, letters and notes, the story introduces a lot of characters that will be involved in a common mystery, a secret, and a possible crime, a plot that will be told masterfully by all the narrators—some characters that are part of the story are also the narrators—that have at least one thing to say in order to develop a complete story.

Our main protagonist is Walter Hartright—though he is not present during a great amount of chapters—who is besides the first narrator and a young teacher of drawing who starts working at Limmeridge House, having two students there: Laura Fairlie and her half-sister, Marian Halcombe. It is around this house and especially this family that the main plot is about, being really important for me to mention two more characters: the woman in white and Count Fosco.
Speaking of the woman in white, I would like to say the first time this brilliant character appears in the story was incredibly well described and narrated, with a mysterious, somewhat gloomy atmosphere that was also common in almost every single chapter – it was indeed from that moment on that I couldn't put the book down. As for Count Fosco, perhaps he was my only disappointment(?) in the novel, and not because he was not a great character—in fact, my friend told me Count Fosco is one of the greatest villains in literature based on her own reading experiences, and I would mostly agree on that, Fosco is actually sneaky, manipulative and downright evil—but because of his relatively late appearance in the story, being almost in the middle of the book, since I was much more interested in seeing the character's development and reading about his own beliefs, thoughts, etc. from the beginning and not almost at the end. Actually, I read this novel by listening to the audiobook—I'd like to give a shoutout to Billy Howle for such a great performance, another audiobook I would highly recommend—and I even remembered the first time Count Fosco is mentioned I was starting to wonder why that didn't happen way earlier in the story (for the record, it was a 25-hour audiobook).

In a nutshell, The Woman in White is a 5-star novel for me because it definitely lived up to my expectations, I truly enjoyed reading it from cover to cover, and I therefore consider it is worth giving it a go. Though it was my first experience reading a long sensation novel, I can tell it won't be the last one, mainly because, as a genre I was not familiar with, I completely love the way both characters and story are developed, which somehow makes me want to pick up other novels of that kind right away, such as Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon and East Lynne by Ellen Wood; hopefully sooner rather than later.

n  When two members of a family or two intimate friends are separated, and one goes abroad and one remains at home, the return of the relative or friend who has been travelling always seems to place the relative or friend who has been staying at home at a painful disadvantage when the two first meet. The sudden encounter of the new thoughts and new habits eagerly gained in the one case, with the old thoughts and old habits passively preserved in the other, seems at first to part the sympathies of the most loving relatives and the fondest friends, and to set a sudden strangeness, unexpected by both and uncontrollable by both, between them on either side.n

In many ways this is an unusual read for me. A mystery: I read very few of these, although I did just recently finish up all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. A novel from the Victorian age: I should read more from that time period. A novel by Wilkie Collins: my first, but I think not my last. A Woman in White is proof of the value I get from Goodreads. It found its way to my “to read” list because of the reviews of some Goodreads friends, described as a mystery that is enjoyable even to those that don’t typically read mysteries.

A Woman in White was one of those easy reading pleasures. While it was slow in starting and slow in places, the characters became as rich in detail as any friends in real life and the plot revealed itself slowly and enticingly. This novel continually invited me back like a fall day that encourages you to spend the entire day outside.

I listened to this on Audible. There are actually several different recordings of A Woman in White available through Audible. I listened to one in which different actors played the various characters. This was very effective as Wilkie Collins uses different narrators throughout the novel, an approach that I think he uses in some of his other novels.

I imagine Wilkie Collins would be quite content to know that his novels bring so much pleasure these many years after writing them. I think I would be.

4,5
Συζητούσα τις προάλλες με μια φίλη μου και της ανέφερα ότι διάβαζα τη "γυναίκα με τα άσπρα ", αυτή θυμόταν το βιβλίο γιατι το ειχε διαβασει πριν περίπου κανα δυο χρόνια και γενικά αγαπάει πάρα πολύ τον Κόλινς, έτσι πιάσαμε μια συζήτηση για αυτόν και εγώ της παραπονέθηκα οτι το μυστήριο θα μπορούσε να λυθεί με πιο απλό και λογικο τροπο και ότι τελοσπάντων δεν είναι τοσο καλο οσο το -λατρεμένο μου- Αρμαντειλ-Μου είπε λοιπόν "Μαρία ψάχνεις να βρεις στερεα λογικη και μη-υπερβοληστον Κόλινς; διαβάζεις τα βιβλία του Κόλινς για την υπόθεση; Υπόθεση μπορεί να εχει οσες τρυπες και προβλήματα και όση έλλειψη αληθωφανειας θελει, αυτό που έχει σημασία είναι η ατμόσφαιρα, η πρόζα του που είναι αξεπέραστη, ο τρόπος που χρησιμοποιεί τις διάφορες αφηγησεις- οπτικες γωνις - είναι αξεπέραστος. "Και ειχε δικιο βεβαια. Καθώς διάβαζα τις τελευταίες σελίδες, κατάλαβα το δικιο της και το λάθος μου . Ετσι εκει προς το τέλος ειδα όλο το μεγαλείο της αφηγησης, όλο το περιπεπλεγμένο της πλοκής , όλο τον πλουτο των χαρακτήρων και πάνω απ'ολα την σύγχρονη κοινωνική κριτική του συγγραφέα.

Gothic popcorn from the first to the last. And I’m pretty sure that was the point, if my understanding of Wilkie Collins’ deal is correct. Ghosts and murders and spies and arson and street fighting and doomed love, oh my! The promise of all that was the string that reeled me in at first (and boy did it deliver!), but it was the narrative structure that made me stay. I loved the passing of narrators and different document forms as we went, and how that became part of the story itself and made it feel as close to a documentary as possible (or as much as you can with the amount of cloaks and daggers and Drama involved here.) I loved how good he was at altering the narrator’s voice so truly none of them sounded the same- as anyone who follows me knows, I love a good in charge narrator.

And some of these characters! Oh some were the cardboard gothic cutouts you think they will be (Laura is a notable and unsurprising- annoyingly unsurprising-example). But others are wonderfully well done. Count Fosco, at least for most of it, twirled his mustache *and* felt frighteningly intelligent and menacing (I just wish he hadn’t undone all of his work on that at the end). Mr Fairlie the viciously selfish invalid. Gilmore the at-the-end-of-his-rope lawyer. Mrs Catherick the crawling up by her bootstraps small town witch and a half. And Marian! My glorious, glorious Marian! The true hero of this novel- something the main character himself closes the book admitting. She’s too fucking good for the lot of them. I wanted to scream with frustration by the end about what became of her. Did anyone else tear their hair out a little every time Walter and Marian talked about Laura and managed her like the helpless child she was, then had Walter sing Marian’s praises to the sky, then turn around and go weak at the knees for the lady-child Laura again? I mean I didn’t need them to get together because Marian is too good for him too, but ughhhh there must be good feminist as well as LGBT readings of this book out there. I feel like Wilkie had her talk about being “just a woman,” so often just to calm people down that she knew her place- she’d be threateningly independent and intelligent otherwise. I guess it’s like in Middlemarch where people love Dorothea and say she should have been better known and more people been acquainted with her awesomeness- before Eliot tells us “but no one could say exactly how that should have happened,” and then the novel just ends on that note. Just “Here’s your HEA, or is it?!? Enjoy this extremely uncomfortable fly in your ointment, where it will and should keep showing up forever.” Probably not a coincidence that this was written around the same time.

My one thing was that I think the bit at the end with Fosco and the societies and all that nonsense was where it jumped the shark for me. I was fine with him running off into the sunset- I didn’t need international conspiracies/secret spy jujitsu in our finale. I know it was one of the 19th century bogeymans in the newspapers at the time tho, so maybe it was a big crowd pleasing banger when this came out. I’d buy that. I bet serialized versions of this appeared alongside accounts of assassinations and new nation states saber rattling.

Super fun though! I did it half audiobook, half on paper, and it was excellent both ways. A great leisurely evening read.

This book was written in the 1800's and is one of the first mystery novels ever written. In this one, Walter meets a woman at night out on the open road. She needs help reaching her destination. This little harmless event leads to so much more.

I am trying to read books that are out of my comfort zone and open up my eyes to new possibilities. This is an example of that and I really enjoyed this novel. This book is told through a number of different characters. They each tell the story but when their part of the story is done and when the story concerns a different character, they pick up the narrative. I liked this aspect as we get to know each character and their actions. As for the characters, they are truly terrific. A couple of them stood out and were remarkable. The mystery is well done as the reader is led from one twist to the next and just when you think that it is finished we get an additional layer to the mystery. The mystery is a "slow burn" reveal but I was never bored with it.

I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one. This was a delight even though some aspects are dated (it is one hundred seventy years old). These aspects actually added to my enjoyment as I was able to see how much society has progressed in its social conventions.

Newest review:
4.5/5 stars.

This was a reread and I enjoyed it immensely. So much so that I’m raising my rating of it from 3.5 to 4.5 stars.

First review:
3.5/5 stars.
This was a really amazing book that takes you on such a journey! I started it four days ago, and now - after having finished it - I feel like I've returned back home safely after having been gone for a long time. I don't know if that makes much sense, but that's how I feel :)
Now, this was my first book by Wilkie Collins and all I knew was that it was supposed to be a Victorian, scary read. It was in the beginning, and also slightly in the middle, but I was sad to realize towards the end that this turned more into a detective novel. I'm not fond of detective novels, and therefore that slightly decreased my reading experience and my fondness of this book.
That being said, I loved how this book is constructed through diverse narratives that are all pieces in a big puzzle. The narratives allowed for me to connect with the characters on an intimate level, and the characters were simply amazing! They stuck to my mind and followed me around when I wasn't reading, and I think that they are the best part of this story.
Even though I did find some of the things happening too convenient for my taste, I can't neglect the fact that this is a beautifully crafted piece of work that leaves an impression on you. I was contemplating between 3 and 4 stars while reading, so in the end I decided to go for 3.5. I loved the book despite its weaknesses, I just would've hoped for more Victorian eeriness and less of a detective novel.

The Woman in White promises so much and delivers very little.

The first hundred pages of the book are gripping and intense. Wilkie Collins begins with an atmospheric mystery that is exciting and almost haunting. I really wanted to know all the secrets the story had to offer.

So even when the book began to grow a little dull around the middle I carried on reading because I hoped that the dryness would be worth it, my patience was bound to be rewarded. (I was so terribly mistaken.) The big reveal at the end is so ridiculously anti-climactic that I actually laughed. That’s what I had been waiting for all this time?

For a book like this, one that is driven by the plot rather than the characters, it is such a major downfall. The real problem this story had is its pacing. There is simply too much middle where the story just doesn't go anywhere and the characters fret over the same facts but get no closer to understanding what any of it means. I grew bored of the endless speculation and marriage politics. I wanted something to happen beyond the seemingly endless conversation that held no substance.

And the entire situation was agony. It was just so frustrating! It simply did not need to happen whatsoever and was predictable to a fault. When you get into bed with a nasty person it’s hardly surprising that your life turns to shit; yet, for the characters it came as a drastic shock. Wake up! Look at the real world! Surely, surely, nobody would be that stupid?

I gave up caring. It was a relief to finish.

Romanticamente inglese
"... vidi stagliarsi solitaria la figura di una donna, vestita di bianco (...), che mi scrutava con espressione grave, e con la mano indicava la nuvola scura sopra Londra".

W. Collins viene considerato il padre del romanzo poliziesco. "La donna in bianco" è il suo capolavoro.
Ritengo però che questo libro non possa essere semplicemente inserito in un sottogenere letterario o etichettato come testo 'di consumo', benché la sua pubblicazione sia avvenuta a puntate su una rivista (nel 1859-60); ma essa era diretta da Dickens!
Il successo fu trionfale. La sua leggibilità è infatti straordinaria, la struttura risulta solida e rigorosa. Poi c'è la scrittura, di piacevole eleganza, secondo la grande tradizione inglese.

La giovane donna in bianco, che compare di notte o al crepuscolo col sua alone di mistero, non rappresenta l'unico elemento d'inquietudine : la sua vicenda s'intreccia con quella di vari altri personaggi, dando vita a molteplici accadimenti collegati fra essi da rimandi sotterranei.
Facili accostamenti risultano al romanzo gotico o a "Cime tempestose" di E. Bronte. L'antico castello, la natura selvaggia, il cupo lago, il cimitero... : ci sono gli elementi d'impronta romantica, ma così ben assortiti in una mescolanza anche di realismo, da formare una stupefacente 'macchina narrativa' .

WOW! What a great book! It's 3 in the morning and I really needed sleep but I just couldn't put this book down until I finished it. So well written with so many twists and turns. I just loved it and would recommend it to all.